If you are a Bond fan, you will love Cats & Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. It is peppered throughout with 007 salutes. It’s starts with the title as Kitty Galore is a twist of Pussy Galore from Goldfinger one of the most memorable Bond girls of all time. From there it goes right into a title sequence a la oo7. The screen is filled with floating cats, fish, etc. to the tune of Let’s Get This Party Started sung by none other than Dame Shirley Bassey who sang the themes to several Bond flicks including Goldfinger. The aerial views of locations with the names digitally typed across the screen was a nice touch as well.
©Warner Brothers
Enough about the grown-ups’ fodder, was it a good story for the kids you ask. Yes. It’s a story about teamwork and giving everyone a chance. And of course, defeating evil. The story begins with a K-9 reporting to a hostage situation. Unable to obey commands, Diggs takes the situation into his own hands and ends up blowing up the entire car lot. Thankfully no one is hurt. Of course, he is kicked off the force and placed in the kennel. His handler played by Chris O’Donnell tries to get him released to him. In the meantime, he is discovered by Dog HQ a group of canine spies. They bring him in and get him set up to be a spy. At headquarters, he meets Lou the head hound so to speak. He is paired to work with veteran spy Butch. They are outfitted with spy gear by canine gadget guru Peek a la Q from Bond fame. Diggs and Butch set out to find Kitty Galore and stop her evil plan. The end up catching what they think is an enemy, a pretty little Russian Blue cat named Catherine. They find she works for the cat spy organization MEOWS. She tells them Kitty Galore used to be Ivanna Clawya one of theirs. She has gone rogue and plans to destroy the dogs and enslave the humans. They all go back to MEOWS and report to Tab Lazenby voiced by none other than Roger Moore, a former 007 himself. What is really funny here is that contrary to what many believe Moore did not replace Connery as the next Bond, there was actually an actor named George Lazenby. Our threesome then head out in search of Kitty Galore. One hilarious scene the kids will like but the adults will truly appreciate is their visit to Alcatraz where they meet a felinesque Hannibal Lecter. There are some near misses and Diggs continues having trouble following orders so Butch sends him home. Catherine ends up taking him home with her. They all continue to search for Kitty Galore and come back together at the end. The big finale is exciting as the animals work together to bring down Kitty Galore.
This voice talents for the film reads like a Hollywood Who’s Who. Bette Midler is delicious as Kitty Galore. James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate, Neil Patrick Harris, Sean Hayes, Roger Moore, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Clarke Duncan and more.
We did not opt to see this film in 3D which I think was probably a wise decision; however, it would have been fun to watch the Road Runner clip at the beginning in 3D.
I give the movie a solid B as it held entertainment value for all age groups. My husband also gives it a B. Our 9-year-old son loved it giving it an A+++.
Bottom line the kids will enjoy the talking animals and their capers and the adults will enjoy the 007 nods.
